Advice needed!

[OCtoolguy]

I live in a mobil home about a mile in from the ocean. I have a very small shop with too much equipment. So I'm going to move some of the big stuff out onto my driveway. So I want to protect it all from the elements. It will all be under cover but the air is still damp at times. I'm going to go to one of the canvas shops nearby and have some baggy covers made with zippers. What material should I get? Canvas thats breathable or what? Any advice would be appreciated. 

[kmmcrafts]

Pretty good question that I look forward to seeing everyone's opinion on.. That said, I would think you would want breathable canvas but I do not know that for sure. My experience with covering things here in the northern states may be different than what you have. My experience with covering project cars ( not tools and equipment ) has been breathable covers.. Years ago I wanted to cover a project car for a year or two while I gathered up parts and built and engine. I covered the car with non breathable plastic tarps.. I thought I would be doing the car a good thing by keeping the moisture out.. however not considering the fact that there is moisture in the ground and what I did was create a moisture trap.. when I removed the tarp.. the bottom of the tarp was covered is water as was the car.. and the car had way more rust on it than it would have had if I had just not covered it at all.. This was back in my teenage years and was a big lesson learned.. I now use breathable stuff to cover to let moisture out.. and some material somehow keeps rain water out yet lets moisture out at the same time.. Had a cover on my 5th wheel camper made of that stuff.. Then I learned that the wind blowing on the cover of the camper flapping the cover around was actually wearing through the rubber roof.. so now I do not cover the camper.. At the end of the day I guess nothing last forever no matter how much care you take of it.. sometimes all that extra care is just a waste of time..

Anyway after all that.. I'd say breathable with the type of climate I have in my area.. curious what others might have to say.. 

[Joe W.]

That's a hard nut to crack - Leaving metal outside for an extended period of time.
Aside from periodic spraying of WD-40 or sometime similar and waxing surfaces, I'm at a loss on coming up with a solution.

 

[blondewood]

Might be better to have really good movable bases and roll things in and out.  Don't make it too easy for the thieves and for the rust.

[OCtoolguy]

14 hours ago, blondewood said:

Might be better to have really good movable bases and roll things in and out.  Don't make it too easy for the thieves and for the rust.

Can't do that. 6 inch drop from shop to driveway. It would require a long ramp. Thieves not a problem. 

[ChelCass]

Not only do you need to consider moisture but the salt that comes off the Ocean. Salt spray is just as bad as regular moisture if not worse.  Breathable tarps/covers are your best choice along with some type of protection to resist the salt.

 

[OCtoolguy]

Thanks to all. You have backed up what I was already thinking. I have a good coat of wax on all the bare metal surfaces. My Dewalt table saw has a painted/powder coated top so no problem there. My bandsaw will be covered top to bottom but still totally waxed. I just bought a folding/rollable stand for my Dewalt miter saw and it will have a good cover. For now, that's all that will be outside. I'm going to have a vinyl fence erected for privacy. I will end up with more than double the space I have in my shop. I'm also thinking of selling my Ex 16 and keep only the Ex 21 and the Hegner Multimax 18. I will have room then to put my drill press down onto its own stand and get it off my workbench. All-in-all, more space. 

[Joe W.]

21 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

I have a good coat of wax on all the bare metal surfaces.

Wax on - Wax off - repeat as necessary - May your body never tire of it. 

[Wichman]

I would recommend you to talk to the canvas shop people and ask their advise. Tell them what you are trying to achieve and ask for they're recommendations, They may have or can order a gortex type material (pores to small for liquid water but large enough for vapors), you just never know.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

You will have bigger problems than just rust on the surface. All parts inside the tools are subject to moisture no matter weather you use breathable tarps or not. Have you considered a shed that is weather tight. gets tools off the ground so you do not have that moisture. Shed would serve far better than tarps. 

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

You will have bigger problems than just rust on the surface. All parts inside the tools are subject to moisture no matter weather you use breathable tarps or not. Have you considered a shed that is weather tight. gets tools off the ground so you do not have that moisture. Shed would serve far better than tarps. 

I wish I could but not allowed. Rules suck but it's the world we live in 

[Gene Howe]

Move to AZ. 

[barb.j.enders]

I have used Recacril fabric for our boat bimini.  It is waterproof.  

[rash_powder]

If you are near the ocean, there is undoubtedly a marina nearby which would mean boats.  Boats have canvas tops, covers, and sails; all of which need repaired or replaced from time to time.  Find the boat top guy and see what he says/uses; he may even be able to do the work too as a side thing.  

I'm totally landlocked where I live in eastern North Dakota, and while I would have to drive an hour or two, I know of two boat canvas shops.  There has to be near you.  

Also - while I was deployed to Iraq, the tents were all canvas or that cotton duck stuff.  They were water proofed (I don't know why as it never rained in a year there) with a parafin and kerosene mix.  Flammable as hell though - a 100 man tent burned up in just a couple minutes.  

Good luck on the project!

[CharleyL]

There is a fabric called "Sunbrella" that is used for long lasting boat covers. Many colors are available too. The custom cover that was built locally for my boat lasted 10 years before it needed replacing. We had several violent wind storms, heavy rain, baking bright sun, and at least one 6" snow storm during that time and no problems at all with the boat cover. The boat cover shops aren't usually very busy this time of year, so maybe one of them will be willing to build you what you need. You will likely need to build the frame so it can be assembled and dis-assembled easily, since they wanted me to leave the boat with them as they made the cover.

Another alternative, though I have no idea of the strength and durability, is the canvas garage that's available from Harbor Freight. I doubt that you will get more than a few years out of it though. Still, the price is quite reasonable for what it is. When the cover on it goes bad, maybe you could re-cover the frame with something better. 

 

Charley

[barb.j.enders]

14 hours ago, CharleyL said:

There is a fabric called "Sunbrella" that is used for long lasting boat covers. Many colors are available too.

The Recacril I used is essentially the same as Sunbrella but costs less.  One of our local boat canvas places now uses it.  I figured if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me!